It’s actually kind of tragic. Tesla would have been, no, should have been a key domestic EV maker. They should have been our global offering in a strategically important industry. But instead, they’re rapidly becoming a pariah. And it’s all because of one man. One terrible, terrible man.

This is a very, very important lesson that America MUST learn: just because someone is rich, that does not mean they are smart, or good, or trustworthy. Personality matters, a lot. I am certain that if Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning could go back, they would tell Mr. Musk “no thank you, we’re not interested in your investment,” even though they really needed the money. It wasn’t worth it, it came with strings attached. Within just a few years of taking Musk’s money, both men were forced out of the company, and Musk was well on his way to convincing millions of Americans that we was a super genius who singlehandedly invented the electric car.

In this country, we have not only tolerated megalomaniacal narcissists like Musk, we’ve celebrated them. That has to stop. Look at where it has gotten us. One of them is president now! If we don’t learn from this, and start to see men like Trump and Musk as the disease that they are, we are doomed. If we don’t get these men under control, they will control us.

Remember Musk’s cameo in Iron Man 2? People were even calling him the “real Tony Stark.” Or when Musk guest starred on The Simpsons, and Lisa called him “possibly the greatest living inventor,” even though Musk has never invented anything in his life?

With the benefit of hindsight, this was clearly ludicrous, but even at the time it should’ve been obvious to everyone that it was nonsense. Unfortunately, it wasn’t obvious to everyone, many people bought it. That’s scary. It’s scary that a megalomaniacal narcissist with enough money can convince large numbers of people that they are something that they are not.

It’s hard to explain, but I have a hard time believing it’s just sadism. Maybe it has to do with the productivity gains from a four day work week taking time to realize. Like you said, over the long run you get better productivity, but maybe the corporations are just more interested in short term profits.

Want happier employees?

No. American corporations absolutely do not care about how happy their employees are. They only care about maximizing profits, and the best way to do that is to squeeze as much productivity out of their workers while also paying those workers as little as possible.

They know the workers aren’t there to find fucking happiness. Few are so privileged. Most people go to work not because it makes them happy, but because they need the god damn money, to keep a roof over their head and to put food on the dinner table, and as everything gets more expensive, the workers need more and more money, to stave off homelessness and destitution. Happiness, Jesus Christ. What a luxury!

The purpose of capitalism isn’t to make people happy. It’s to make profit for owners. That’s it.

I think the US is a lost cause. The fact is, most Americans like this country the way it is. Sure, plenty of Americans don’t like Trump, but, for most of those people, if they could replace Trump but keep everything else more or less the same, they would be perfectly content to do so.

Well, that sounds great, then. I still think you’re being naive, and that you’re putting too much faith in the invisible hand of the free market, but, as I’ve said several times now, I’m not opposed to upzoning. Not at all. By all means, go for it.

Upzoning and removing red tape increases the supply of land where you can build a multi-family unit, so investors are willing to accept lower-margin returns.

Are they? You seem pretty convinced, but I’m not so sure. Upzoning initiatives have been happening in various states and metro areas in the country in recent years, is there evidence that lower margin developments have increased in those areas?

That being said, I don’t necessarily oppose any of the measures you’re proposing, but, while they might work in theory, I’m not convinced they will achieve the results you believe they will achieve, in practice. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with trying this strategy, though. By all means, let’s try it, even if only as a trial somewhere.

This isn’t a failure of the market to build affordable housing

It absolutely is.

I’m all for zoning reform. We should reduce or eliminate single family only zoning, and other unnecessary building requirements, in urban areas. But the idea that developers are champing at the bit to go build a lot of very low margin, quality, affordable multi family housing, and that the only thing holding them back is government regulations, is naive at best.

I want to secede from the Union.

I can only speak for myself, but the reason I don’t eat at McDonald’s is because their food is just very low quality. Their coffee is good, but everything else is just crap.

Owning a detached, single family home is always going to be out of reach for many, because they’re just inherently more expensive. It’s lower density housing that requires more land and infrastructure, per person. It’s less efficient use of space, it should be more expensive. The problem in the US is that higher density housing isn’t much less expensive, and that’s because there isn’t enough of it, and there isn’t enough of it because developers and investors aren’t interested in building low margin, affordable, quality apartments and condos. They’d rather build higher margin “luxury” housing. It’s “luxury” in quotes because it’s not actually high end. It’s priced as high end housing, but it’s actually quite cheaply built, with some high end veneer slapped on top. And thus, the high margins. Works great for developers and investors, but it’s a very bad deal for renters and buyers.

The fear of destitution makes workers obedient and compliant.

It’s hard to get two sides to come to an agreement on something when one side is totally irrational.

Tbh the people are not educated properly, too enslaved to debt service and bills, and so brain conditioned to individual greed that forming a cohesive army to restore democracy is a laugh.

That’s very true. Our problems don’t only exist at the top. We have fundamental, critical problems at every strata: top, bottom, and middle.

This country is so fucked.

Call me the Dude, because I hate the fuckin’ Eagles. Good for Jalen Hurts, though. I mean, I don’t know if he’s making a political statement or he just doesn’t like Big Macs, but, either way, cool.

Ideologically speaking, dozens of studies and surveys have shown that Americans are actually not very ideologically separate

Maybe Americans are generally ideologically homogeneous, but there’s enough variability within that shared ideology for there to be significant disagreements between the various ideological subgroups. Even if Americans broadly agree on the matter of individual rights, liberties, and freedoms, they may not necessarily agree on which rights should be prioritized or for whom.

But maybe the problem is in the shared ideology itself. A country that is adamant that people should have the right to be ignorant and misinformed, shouldn’t be surprised when large numbers of people are ignorant and misinformed.

Political tribalism is so crazy in this country. It’s like Republicans and Democrats live in two different countries. I suppose in some ways they do.

Tesla cannot be saved until and unless Musk sells his share of the company and completely divorces himself from it. Even that may not be enough, as the brand is so closely associated with Musk that his stain may not wash off, but it’s their only chance.